Originally Posted by
SCTinkering
It's all about the welds. I also have an Airborne Ti and one of the reasons they went out of business is that the weld (frames assembled in China) quality was hit and miss. I think my Valkyrie was done on a good day with one of their better welders. Others weren't quite so lucky.
At a endurance race in the pouring rain and mud I saw a Moots rear chainstay detach from the bb shell about 5 miles from the finish. Guy's race was over. They sure have a good reputation and I'm sure they'll take care of him.
My ti lynskey developed a crack at the base of the seatpost expansion slot, I think because my easton seatpost had a flat face at that point. I called around locally and people wanted > $1k to fix. Lynskey offered to replace my seattube for ~300. Rather than mail the frame in I got a thomson post and a deeper seatpost clamp from Engin Cycles and crack hasn't grown in > 1 year, but if it grows I'll send it in.
I've had my kona hei hei since new, its lived on my trainer now for 6 years and is crusted with salt but no corrosion. I've had to replace steel stem bolts because they were exploding with rust.
I'm a big fan of Ti but a lot of hype is just false. I think best is to try and buy from someone that will support you down the line.